Valedictorian Carson Frick

Despite his love of fun games of all sorts, senior Carson Frick has his feet firmly rooted in the reality of rigorous coursework as he wraps up his time at La Salle and prepares for a cross-country move to Boston College to study economics and finance in the fall. 

Though he had always planned to attend his neighborhood high school, a fateful day of shadowing at La Salle with classmate Will Clem changed his mind. “I ended up wanting a smaller school and wanting better academically because obviously the academic side of school has always been very important to me,” Frick said. 

Although he is looking forward to the college experience, Frick is feeling a lot of anxiety about moving away to Boston. He described not being a fan of change and, even at the start of every school year, he would sometimes struggle with getting used to a new routine or having a new schedule and new classes with new people. Frick isn’t excited for the adjustment period but is looking forward to becoming friends with his new peers and having the independence that college offers. 

Frick is planning on majoring in economics and finance, as he appreciates the numbers and statistics involved with the major but also enjoys the practical application of the skill set that is required. Although he is planning on sticking with an economic-based major, Frick is open to the opportunity to explore his interests. He plans on taking a lot of classes his first few years in various subjects and if he finds something that really appeals to him, he can double major or change his major altogether.

Frick’s time at La Salle has been rewarding, as a member of the varsity basketball team and a participant in some of the school’s most challenging courses. That hard work has paid off, as he is following in the footsteps of his brother who graduated from Boston College in 2022 and now lives in the Boston area.

“It’ll be a very big comfort to have my older brother in town,” Frick said. 

He leaned heavily on Dylan’s advice in selecting his college and ultimately picked Boston College because it was a good fit, not just because it was also where his brother had gone to school. 

“We’ve always been very close, especially through basketball,” Frick said. “We both started playing basketball around the same time, and then we would play together.” 

His brother Dylan won’t be the only familiar face in Boston. A good friend and fellow valedictorian, Ellie Sandholm, is attending Wellesley College which is nearby. Frick noted that friends like Sandholm are part of what makes La Salle special.

 “I genuinely enjoy being here and around a lot of these people,” Frick said. “That is not something I could say about myself when I was an underclassmen.”

His basketball friends are another group of people at La Salle that have enriched his experience. “I love that group, they’re so much fun,” Frick said. “I’m so glad I got to play with all of them.” Seniors Finbar O’Brien and Nick Robertson have been close friends of Frick since his freshman year, and he felt especially grateful for getting to know and going through similar experiences in basketball with them.

“The three of us, a lot of times, gravitated towards each other in practices and stuff because we were the three freshmen on the team and everything was new,” Frick said. “I’m very close to a lot of the team, but I definitely really appreciate those two for going through such a similar thing as me. We definitely helped each other out just by being around each other.”

Frick and his teammates would get together in the off season and play together, and he hopes this will continue this summer as well as into the following years. “I want to stay close with a lot of the hoop kids, I enjoy being around them so much,” Frick said. “They have such fun energy.” 

Taking Chemistry with science department chair and science teacher Mr. Matt Owen his sophomore year and then again his senior year, Frick appreciates how Mr. Owen teaches and the environment he fosters in his classroom. “Talking to him about personal, random, non-school stuff is always nice just to get the feeling of like, ‘Okay, wait, this isn’t just a teacher, it’s an actual person who does care about me,’” Frick said.  

Although AP Chemistry moved quickly, he felt that Mr. Owen made it worth how difficult some of the material was. Additionally, Mr. Owen’s organization in the class helped him stay on track along with the fact that he never felt that studying was a burden because of how much he enjoyed the material. 

Science and computer programming teacher Mr. Kyle Voge is another educator Frick admires. A strong love for trivia is something that they share, and one of his favorite memories has been going into Mr. Voge’s classroom during Flex Time and participating in trivia for prizes which were usually Starbursts or other sweet treats. Mr. Voge has also been playing The Legend of Zelda video game recently, which is another fun thing he and Frick have been able to connect about. 

“It’s nice to talk to a teacher who has some shared interests,” Frick said. 

Frick has felt that throughout his life, he has had stereotypical “nerd interests” but hasn’t always loved using the term to describe himself, but has grown to love that part of himself.  “I’ve really embraced those kind of things, and it’s like I genuinely don’t really know what other word I would use, so I kind of just use it. It’s almost more of a term of endearment, because I do really enjoy those parts about myself and definitely have learned to embrace it,” Frick said. 

Frick has learned to change the meaning of the word “nerd,” as he grew up seeing it in movies when the jocks would bully the nerds. When he got older, he got more into basketball and pursued his own passions with video games and began to appreciate the balance he had struck. “It’s fun because I feel like I’m a fusion of both, which I really enjoy,” Frick said.  

Frick, along with his family, is very passionate about basketball, occasionally finds themselves eating meals together while watching games in front of their TV. Born and raised in Portland, Frick has always been a fan of the Blazers basketball team. His mother’s parents also grew up in the Portland area and live close to Frick and his family which he immensely appreciates. 

According to Frick, his family has always loved board games. A favorite they share is the game Quiddler, which he described as being similar to Scrabble but with cards instead of tiles. His family is competitive so when everyone is in town for the holidays, they have a blast playing together. Frick said that his aunt and uncle, both English teachers, make it especially enjoyable. 

Outside of his passion for board games and Pokémon, Frick also enjoys volunteering at an organization called Bustin’ Barriers and has been helping participate in the program since middle school. The organization runs a summer camp for kids with disabilities, and volunteers get to help the kids out with activities such as P.E. games or arts and crafts. Because Frick had personally known Andrew Yoshihara, the Executive Director of Bustin’ Barriers and former La Salle staff member, he was offered the opportunity to begin volunteering through him. 

“That’s something I really look forward to every summer, and it’s just a lot of fun to do,” Frick said.

Last summer, Yoshihara informed Frick that he would be moving up to a staff member position and would have the responsibility of checking in with more kids and overseeing volunteers helping campers out. This leadership role includes Frick setting up activities, leading games, and being able to help on a larger scale. 

To underclassmen, Frick offers his wisdom about hard work.

“Genuinely try to push yourself,” Frick said. “You can handle so much more than you really think you can. And there’s a lot of people, especially here, who are looking out for you and want to make sure that you can accomplish whatever you’re setting out to do. There are days it’s going to be hard and it is going to take hard work, but people can handle a lot more, I think, than they initially realize. Don’t sell yourself short, you don’t want to regret anything later.”